Dead space sticker: pay attention to this to get away with the fine

As is known, from 1 January 2021, a blind sticker must be affixed to lorries over 3.5 tonnes in France. The provision applies not only to trucks but also to buses. True, there are currently far fewer buses on the roads. Regardless, anyone who fails to do so could receive a severe penalty of hundreds of euros. However, according to the Hungarian Road Carriers Association (MKFE), the authorities will only warn the drivers until March 31, and may impose fines only after the grace period has expired. Nonetheless, the Slovenian colleague of the truck blogger, St22lacika, is said to have already received such a check.

For trucks

For trucks, the decals must be placed on both sides of the cab, in a conspicuous place, under the window (or next to the platform window). But the same sticker must also be affixed to the back of the superstructure. According to the regulations, they should be placed at a minimum height of 0.90 m and a maximum height of 1.50 m from the ground, because their purpose is to draw the attention of cyclists or pedestrians to the fact that commercial vehicles have a dead space.

For trucks, ie an assembly consisting of at least one tractor and a semi-trailer, at least 5 such stickers are required. In their case, the following must be observed: a 1-1 sticker must be placed on the right and left of the tractor within the first one meter. Of course, this is also below the glass surface, within the aforementioned height limits. The semi-trailer needs to be stickered within one meter of the king pin, on both the right and left side.

In the case of trailers towing a trailer, the same procedure must be followed, ie the yellow dead space sticker must be affixed to the right and left of the trailer within one meter. And, as above, a sticker must be affixed to the back of the vehicle assembly, whether it is an extra-long truck that only pulls a conventional semi-trailer, or an extra-long truck that pulls both a semi-trailer and a trailer.

Of course, the criteria for the required height of the rear decal do not apply to trucks where this is not technically feasible. Examples are a container vehicle, a car carrier, a tank truck, or even a tipping semi-trailer. In these cases, the sticker must be placed on the back as you “issue” it, but it is important that it is in a clearly visible place.

Also needed for buses

The same procedure must be followed for buses, ie 3 stickers are sufficient for solo buses (left and right and back), but for articulated buses, 1-1 stickers must also be affixed to the area behind the articulation on each side. Of course, in the case of buses as well, care must be taken to ensure that the stickers are placed under the glass surfaces within 0.90 and 1.50 meters of the ground.

How much does it cost?

Obviously, this whole dead space-sticker thing affects a carrier whose place of loading or unloading is in France or passing in the direction of Great Britain or Spain in the territory of the country. For them, we can advise you that it is worth getting these stickers at home, because ordering in or from France can make the story much more expensive.

After a little research, it can become clear to anyone that the French cost 1 piece an average of 3.99 euros, or 1436 forints. This means that a truck will leave at least HUF 7,180 worth of five stickers in France if you buy them at the first petrol station. If someone were to order, say, 30 pieces from France via Ebay, it would cost 80 euros, that is 28 841 you have to spend HUF, plus you have to pay HUF 4,500 for the postage. Of course, the Chinese have already taken up the topic and 30 pieces cost them $ 33.99, or HUF 1,0077, with free delivery.

It’s home MKFE offers such stickers must be paid by a carrier at a rate of HUF 490 + VAT (which is HUF 623 gross), ie a postage fee of HUF 3,115 and a postage fee of HUF 1,000 for five pieces. At the same time, the postage fee is waived for more than 50 pieces, which means that a carrier can get 51 pieces for about 32 thousand forints. In addition to MKFE, webshops also offer such stickers at a slightly higher unit price, but even so, someone comes out cheaper than buying them in France.

Nonetheless, the question rightly arises as to what is the point of sticking trucks and trucks together when more and more people are seeing a blind spot monitoring system and a specially designed cornering assistant for cyclists and pedestrians.

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